There are things that come and go quickly in training, and there are those that stick around for the long haul. The former are usually the shiny, exciting new tricks that never actually work the way the pusher promised. The latter tends to be simple, unglamorous, boring, utilitarian work that actually produces results. Pre-workout foam rolling fits into this latter category for me.
There is so much back and forth about what works and what doesn’t, why things work or don’t, w...... Continue reading

Hang snatches and cleans are handy variations of the classic lifts, but there are also an extensive number of variations of lifts from the hang, each with its own benefits and drawbacks. Following is a list of hang positions used for the snatch and clean with their definitions, purposes, benefits and drawbacks.
Just off the Floor
This would be the hang position used in a floating snatch or clean—basically as close to the floor as you can get the plates without all...... Continue reading

One of the most common questions we get at Catalyst Athletics is how to modify a program to work around an injury. It can be frustrating, and I’ve seen a lot of people give up on training altogether in response to an injury, but there is nearly always a way to continue training in a way that will allow you to improve something you need to work on while allowing the injury to heal. Depending on the injury, this can require some serious imagination, but it’s not usually that difficult ...... Continue reading

Since the elimination of the press from weightlifting competition after the 1972 Olympics, its place in the training of weightlifters has become somewhat unclear and certainly a point of contention. The questions are pretty obvious: Is the press still a valuable training exercise for weightlifting in its modern biathlon format? If so, how should it be performed and programmed, and who should be using it (or should avoid it)?
There is a not insignificant portion of the world population w...... Continue reading

With the proliferation of videos of elite weightlifters on the internet, beginners are being exposed to advanced lifting more than they were several years ago, and seeing all kinds of fancy, exciting things. Naturally, we all want to do what we see the best in the game doing, but often we don't stop to ask WHY they're doing it, HOW they're doing it, WHAT the process was for reaching it, and WHEN they started doing it.
A perfect example is the dynamic start for the snatch or clean. The purpose...... Continue reading

In the eight years I’ve been posting training programs and daily workouts on this site, we’ve had a lot of athletes get amazing results… and we’ve had a lot of people asking questions that stun me with their implications. For example, asking to clarify which numbers are the sets and which are the reps… three weeks into the program. Or asking to confirm they’re doing a particular exercise correctly when what they’re doing is barely even related, let alo...... Continue reading

I’ve written a number of times on fashionable weightlifting technique. These things become fashionable not because they’re new, but because someone of often dubious influence thinks they are and gets excited about what appears to be a novel approach that can bear the weight of many hashtags. More often than not, they’ve been around for a long time, have been experimented with and evaluated by many coaches and athletes, and dismissed as being unsuitable generally, and only suita...... Continue reading

One of the most frustrating technical problems as a weightlifter, and as a weightlifting coach, is the dreaded forward jump. Unfortunately, it’s pretty common, and worse, it often proves extremely difficult to correct. In fact, there are a few world-class lifters who jump forward, which goes to show you that even teams of the best athletes and best coaches in the world struggle to do things perfectly. Don’t mistake this as my saying don’t worry about your jumping forward with t...... Continue reading

I’m finally wrapping up this extensive series of three articles with what you probably would assume would be the first—the snatch—but I’m such a maverick I just had to start with the jerk and then move on to the clean. The snatch, of course, is the lift that most commonly crushes dreams and tortures the poor individuals who make the mistake of becoming infatuated with weightlifting. Of the three lifts, it requires the most precision and mobility, and these two elements al...... Continue reading